


New Game

by iridilea



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE
Genre: F/F, I have the entire thing planned out it's just taking me forever to write it, Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Inspired by Harry Potter, Inspired by Jumanji, Inspired by Sword Art Online, Isekai, Isekai Genre, You'll Have to Read to Find Out - Freeform, also posted on twitter, inspired by kimetsu no yaiba/demon slayer, inspired by no game no life, or whatever, please leave comments i used all my brain cells for this, vivid fight scenes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25764385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iridilea/pseuds/iridilea
Summary: Soojin, Shuhua and Yuqi enjoy their usual game of PUBG, until someone with the gamer tag “god” joins their team.
Relationships: Cho Miyeon/Minnie Nicha Yontararak, Jeon Soyeon/Song Yuqi, Seo Soojin/Yeh Shuhua
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	1. Logging into the Game...

“Guys, do you wanna play another round?” Shuhua asked over the call, stretching after what seemed like forever.

“Let’s play Team this time,” Yuqi suggested, “I haven’t teamed up with you in ages, and you two keep winning in Duos.”

“What can I say, the SooShu team always wins,” Shuhua puffed out her chest, though no one was really there to see it, prompting a laugh from Soojin.

“There’s going to be one extra spot, though,” Soojin frowned, “Four people in a team, remember?”

“Eh, doesn’t really matter,” Yuqi shrugged, “I can carry them if they’re a noob.”

“Are you sure?” Shuhua laughed, “You always die first.”

“You would die easier if Soojin wasn’t there sniping for you,” Yuqi rolled her eyes, recounting the number of times she had tried to attack Shuhua during their games but getting one-shotted by her partner, “Seriously, her aim is no joke.”

“She doesn’t have the highest accuracy in the world for nothing,” Shuhua bragged in place of Soojin.

“Hey, that’s enough,” Soojin giggled, “I’ll start a room and let’s see who joins us.”

“If we weren’t on the same team, I would say I’ll kick your ass,” Yuqi smirked, as the map loaded.

“Says you,” Shuhua retorted, “Should we switch to in-game voice chat and see if the other person joins?”

“Sounds good,” Soojin agreed, “I’ll log off here,” they heard the ping signalling that she left the voice channel, and Yuqi and Shuhua logged off as well.

“Hey, can you hear me?” Yuqi tested the waters, unsure if the new person would join the chat.

“Ask the other person to join voice chat,” Shuhua suggested.

“I did,” Yuqi frowned, pressing the text option one more time.

**yuqirin:** hey, do you want to join voice chat?

**jinjinluvr:** we don’t bite i promise

Soojin frowned, reading the other person’s gamer tag. It wasn’t every day you saw someone call themselves ‘god’. She wasn’t sure if it was ironic or not, so she kept it to herself.

**yuqirin:** follow me

**cherrybullet:** ok

**jinjinluvr:** ok

Still no response from ‘god’, whoever that was. Yuqi stifled a laugh at the sheer absurdity of the sentence she formed in her mind, watching the ‘following’ icons pop up on her other teammates. All of them were following her. Good. At least this new person was willing to cooperate, even though the lack of voice chat was a problem.

“I’ll drop over the Campsite,” Yuqi decided, as the other two members of her team voiced out their approval. “Okay, let’s go.”

Hearing the familiar whoosh of the parachute through her headphones, Yuqi readied herself for combat. The Campsite was a frequent drop spot for players, so she was sure there would be clashes early on. It didn’t matter. As long as she got to the guns first, it would be over for the others.

“I got a sniper rifle,” Shuhua reported, “Jin, do you want it?”

“Wait, I’ll come find you in a bit,” Soojin replied, “I have an assault, we can trade.”

“It’s fine, I’ll come to you- oh fuck,” Shuhua shot a few times at the intruder, effectively killing them, “I don’t understand how you use these things.”

“Takes practice,” Soojin shrugged, firing a round of bullets at another person and looting their inventory, “I got another kill.”

“Already? Jesus,” Yuqi sighed exasperatedly, “I can’t find a level 2 backpack.”

“I think there’s one near me, wanna group up?” Soojin asked, scouring the surroundings.

“Coming to you,” Shuhua affirmed, and Yuqi did the same.

**cherrybullet:** form up on me!

“Oh, I can see god,” Shuhua snickered at what came out of her own mouth, “they’re coming over as well.”

“There’s someone to our left,” Yuqi warned, “I just heard gunshots.”

“I’ll take them out,” said Shuhua, crouching down and standing up again to show thanks to Soojin, “Support please.”

“Got your back,” Soojin smiled.

“I… will destroy you,” Shuhua hissed, jumping out the window of where they grouped up, already firing at the person as she landed. Running towards her target, she watched with satisfaction as the green clouds that were supposed to symbolise blood popped up, showing her where she hit. “1 kill down- fuck!” There was another person, hiding out somewhere, “I got shot by the other guy, I can’t see them!”

One singular gunshot, and a puff of green smoke. The other player was dead.

“Thanks, Jin,” Shuhua heaved a sigh of relief, looting the dead players.

“That wasn’t me,” Soojin furrowed her brows, “Yuqi, did you kill them?”

“No, I thought it was you,” Yuqi was confused. She was just aiming at the other player, when she found that they were already shot dead, “Maybe it was god?” She asked, prompting a laugh from Shuhua.

“God, the player on our team, Shu.”

“I know, but I think it’s hilarious.”

“What else am I supposed to call them?” Yuqi shrugged, “it’s their tag. Besides, now we know they’re a good sniper, so I don’t have to snipe anymore.” She dropped her sniper rifle, exchanging it for an UZI. “Let’s get this chicken,” she grinned to herself.

“Motherfucker,” Shuhua cursed, “I got shot!” Lying down in the grass, she applied a bandage as quickly as she could, hoping Yuqi could cover for her.

“Again?” Soojin asked, “Are you dead?”

“Not yet, but she will be if she keeps charging in willy nilly like that,” Yuqi fired another round at her unsuspecting target, managing to kill them with a headshot before they realised where the shots were coming from.

“Ouch, that hurts, Wooks,” Shuhua frowned, “The only reason you’re alive is because of me.”

“Yeah, by being my bullet shield,” Yuqi joked, “Should’ve picked up a pan, make yourself useful.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Shuhua snorted, swiftly aiming and killing another player to Yuqi’s right, “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“We’re down to the last eight,” Soojin warned, “We should find the ones who’ve been camping the entire match, they’re usually easier targets.”

“Our entire team is still alive,” Yuqi noted, “I have no idea where god is, though?”

“You should start going to church, maybe you’ll find them there,” Shuhua chuckled, “I’m just kidding.”

“No religion jokes,” Soojin sighed, “Sorry, whoever you are.”

“Sorry,” Yuqi and Shuhua replied in unison.

“Oh hey, wasn’t the guy I just shot Lucas?” Shuhua read the tag of her most recent kill.

“Could be. Maybe someone else with a similar tag,” Yuqi shrugged, “He was our enemy, though, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Down to five, who’s the lucky bastard?” Shuhua hummed, running in circles, hoping to spot the final player.

“Have you checked the- Oh. Chicken.”

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER appeared on each of their screens, and Soojin heaved a sigh of relief. The last kill was hers.

**cherrybullet:** soz i took the kill

**yuqirin:** wtf

**jinjinluvr:** thx for carry

Being redirected to the stats page, Soojin checked ‘god’s profile, gasping at what she saw. 100% accuracy. “No way,” she said to no one in particular. Her record was 98.3%, and she had the highest accuracy rate in the world, so how did this person get every single bullet they fired to hit? Taking a screenshot of the page, she sent it in their group chat.

**cherrybullet:** you guys seeing this?

**jinjinluvr:** WHAT !

**yuqirin:** lol probs pure luck

**jinjinluvr:** yeah probably ..?

**cherrybullet:** no thats impossible

**cherrybullet:** yeah

**cherrybullet:** impossible

“Soojin, don’t stress about it,” Yuqi was the last to log onto the voice channel, “it’s probably a glitch.”

“Wait, guys,” Shuhua interrupted, “Did you get a message from that god person too?”

“Huh?” Yuqi turned her attention back to her game screen, “Yeah, I did.”

“I’m impressed by your skills, come, join me in this game?” Soojin read the message out loud, not knowing what it meant. “Oh, there’s an invite to a room. I’m guessing they want to play another game?”

“I don’t see why not,” Yuqi cracked her knuckles, “Let’s see if this god person is for real.”

Join room?

> Yes  
\- No

A flash of bright light envelops the girls, shining through their windows for a brief moment. When it died down, all three of them had vanished into thin air, like they never existed in the first place.


	2. Welcome to Neverland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flower field, a vehicle that appeared out of thin air and a fast-paced game of real-life PUBG. Welcome to Level 1 of Neverland.

Shuhua woke up in a flower field, disoriented.  _ Where am I?  _ She thought to herself, looking down at her hands.  _ Hold on, these aren’t my clothes…  _ She wore the attire of a forest nymph, green sleeves, a white vest, white gloves and a pink fluffy skirt boasting a holster for a pistol. On her head, she wore a large butterfly clip, which seemed to shine in the sunlight.

“Holy shit,” Shuhua breathed, feeling the dress she had on, “This is-”

“This is my skin!” Hearing Yuqi’s voice, she whipped around, and found her two friends just a few steps away.

Yuqi was wearing cybernetic gloves, somewhat similar to gauntlets. She had on a sleek leather jacket around an armour chestplate, paired with black tights that had knives strapped to them. Not far from them, Soojin was the last to wake up, a little dazed from whatever had happened to them. She was wearing a “Queen of Hearts” outfit, with a frilly ruff around her neck and puffed sleeves. On her face was a white mask, a broken heart design covering her right eye. She wore a tiny golden crown on her head, and Shuhua thanked whoever gave her the outfit for not giving her the poofy red wig.

“It’s honestly a lot less scratchy than I expected,” Yuqi heard Soojin’s voice, loud and clear, and laughed at her comment.

“I didn’t say anything?”  _ Wait, what? _

_ “Wow, Jinjin looks really hot in that dress.” _

“Shuhua. Stop thinking,” Yuqi said out loud, “We can hear you.”

“What?” Shuhua yelled, her voice amplified in the other two’s heads. Soojin and Yuqi winced, holding their heads at the sudden volume. 

“Ah, so I see you figured out that you can communicate in that way without me telling you. I really did pick the right batch this time.” A voice which seemingly came from nowhere, but was everywhere at once.

“Who’s there?” Shuhua raised her fists, ready to defend herself and her friends.

The voice laughed, high and girlish, “I’ll tell you, if you pass my test. Hop in!”

A car materialised on the road adjacent to the flower field, and the three of them looked at each other worriedly.  _ Would this really be alright?  _ Soojin thought, though she realised soon after that the other two could hear her.

“I don’t think we have any choice,” Shuhua shrugged, “I call shotgun. Yuqi, you drive.”

“I don’t have a license.” Yuqi said matter-of-factly.

“You drive all the time when we play, how different is it going to be?” Shuhua retorted, scanning over the driver’s controls.

“Shuhua, I don’t think any of us have a license,” Soojin pointed out, forehead creased in worry.

“Uh… I think I figured it out,” Yuqi appeared to step on the gas, sending the car zooming forward and into the flowers, “Yup, that’s the button to go forward.”

_ “I wanna go home,” _ Soojin’s voice echoed in their heads. Turning around, Shuhua saw her death gripping the backseat, where she was sitting alone. Climbing over to the back, Shuhua sat next to her, giving her a half hug as if to comfort her.

“Gross,” Yuqi said aloud, faking a gagging sound, “I know you two are a thing, but you don’t have to rub it in my face like that.”

“Eyes on the road, chauffeur,” Shuhua said jokingly, “We don’t want you crashing into a tree.”

“Actually,” Yuqi had a wicked smile, like she always did when she had an idea, “Would we die if I crashed into a tree?”

“You die in PUBG when the car crashes, so I wouldn’t risk it.”

“What if we jump out before it crashes?”

“Shuhua, now you’re just tempting fate,” Soojin sighed, giving the suggestion a thought, “sounds fun. Let’s try.”

Yuqi judged the distance to the nearest tree, along with the maximum speed of the car. “Alright, open the doors and jump in 3, 2, 1.” They jumped, and watched as the car sailed into the tree, crashing and bursting into flames instantly.  _ Just like PUBG. _

Hiding in the bushes in case the crash attracted attention, the girls looked at Soojin, who stuck out like a sore thumb with her red outfit.

_ “Gunshots,” _ Shuhua warned, already becoming used to the thinking system.  _ “Do we have any guns?” _

_ “Fuck, I forgot we had to loot something,” _ Yuqi smacked herself,  _ “We should try and avoid those people. Whatever they are.” _

_ “They’re killing each other,” _ Soojin noted, squinting into the distance,  _ “one of them just dropped. We should get out of here while they’re distracted with looting.” _

_ “How are you seeing that? Do you have some sort of superpower outside of the game too?”  _ Yuqi’s jaw dropped, only seeing shadows in the distance.

_ “I don’t know, maybe?” _

‘Maining perks: a tutorial’ popped up in front of their eyes, Shuhua nearly falling over in shock.

_ “Assault: High HP,” _ Yuqi frowned, skipping straight to her main,  _ “We have HP?”  _ Almost as if on cue, a green bar flashed to the top left corner of her eyesight.  _ “Ah, I see it now. Soojin, how much HP do you have?” _

_ “800,” _ Soojin flicked her eyes up to her HP bar, checking the maximum.

_ “Shuhua and I should be the same, we have 900. That’s a big difference.” _

“It  _ is _ your perk, though?” Soojin accidentally said out loud, clapping a hand over her mouth quickly,  _ “Sorry.” _

_ “It’s okay, I found shelter,” _ They soon realised that Shuhua was nowhere to be seen, already making her way halfway up the hill they were on and pointing to a cabin.  _ “Doors are closed, so I doubt it’s already looted.” _

_ “Nice going, Shu,” _ Yuqi gave her a thumbs up, motioning for Soojin to pick up the pace.

Sniper rifle, check. Assault guns, check. Bandages, check.

“Does getting shot here hurt?” Shuhua wondered out loud, inspecting the mouth of her pistol attentively

“Shuhua, no.” The other two girls said in sync, turning their attention back to the approaching footsteps.

“To the left,” Shuhua whispered, “They must think this is unoccupied, I closed all the doors. Should I jump out the window and ambush them? Wait- am I going to break a leg?” Looking towards her friends, they shrugged.

“We’re about to find out, then.”

Yelling, Shuhua jumped out the window, Soojin following her closely with her scope as they had done millions of times before. Her entire body shook with the recoil from the guns she held in each hand, mowing down their enemies with rapid fire shots. Her body moved on its own by a mere thought, much swifter than it did in their previous world. Now this? This was something she could get behind.

A gunshot.  _ I will dodge the bullet, _ Shuhua thought with all her might, but much to her dismay, it struck her right in the shoulder, sending a searing pain up her neck. No wound, but a stream of blood sprayed from where she was shot. Calling up her HP bar, she assessed her damages as Soojin got rid of the attacker.

_ “I need healing,” _ Shuhua pleaded, as Soojin and Yuqi both jumped down from their hiding spot to reach her.

“How much HP do you have left?” Yuqi asked worriedly as she produced the stock of bandages she had in her bag. “I’m glad it wasn’t a headshot.”

“Thank you,” Shuhua rasped as the pain went away gradually as an effect of the bandages, “I was down 30, so it wasn’t much.”

“I’ll join you next time, I shouldn’t leave you to 1v4 like that,” Yuqi apologised profusely, “dude, if I knew that gunshots actually hurt, I would be your shield.”

“Don’t say that,” Shuhua turned serious, “You know I would rather die than let you do that, right?”

“No,” Soojin spoke up, “none of you are dying on my watch.”

“Right, besides,  _ ‘tis but a flesh wound _ ,” Shuhua deepened her voice, trying to sound gruff. Soojin giggled, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “Let’s go. How many players are left?”

“Last 8, which means that most of them are nearby. Get ready,” Yuqi pulled down her menu, reading the list of survivors. “That god person is on the list as well. Looks like they’re playing solo, while the other four are a team.”

“Wait, what?”

“Last 4.” Soojin gasped, climbing up a tree to secure a higher vantage point. “They’re going to come for us.”

The same avatar as before. The pink visor and white bodysuit, just  _ walking _ towards them. Soojin aimed at the other player, not letting her nerves get in the way.  _ Headshot. Make this one count. _ Squeezing the trigger, she watched the path of the bullet… until it stopped in its tracks. The player in the white bodysuit crumbled away, leaving nothing in their wake.

_ What? _

“Congratulations, you guys! I knew I was right to go for you three,” That voice again.

A girl materialised in front of them- literally, appearing out of thin air, and walked towards them, leaving traces of blue dust behind as she took her form. Stretching out an arm to protect the others, Shuhua stood in front of them with one quick stride.

“Relax, I’m not here to hurt you,” the girl waved a hand, and Shuhua’s body seemed to move on its own, walking gingerly back to where she was and sitting down.

“Hi! I’m God. You passed my test. Welcome to my world.”

“Your… world?” Soojin asked, perplexed, “I thought we  _ were _ in your world. Before we came here.”

“Oh, um, that’s not mine. Your universe is run by another lady. Who, just so you know, pretty much outranks me, so let’s not get into that. I’m a god… in training.”

“Wait, so are we dead, or something?” The spell on Shuhua wore off, so she stood up, staring at the girl curiously.

“Yes… and no?” God seemed unsure herself, “You see, this world isn’t exactly complete yet, but some of it is. You guys,” she gestured to the three girls, “are the beta testers. In a way, whether I can become a real god or not kind of falls on your shoulders.”

“So… is this like some sort of final exam before you pass… god school?” Yuqi furrowed her brows, cocking her head to one side.

“You could put it that way. By the way, I was planning on having a lot more levels, but right now… it’s not much. Sorry to disappoint.”

“Levels?” Shuhua was confused. “Did we pass one of them just now?”

“Yes, that’s right. That was Level 1, based off of Battlegrounds,” God nodded, “Soojin, you were going to ask something?”

“Um, do we call you God? Or do you have another name?” Soojin raised an eyebrow, dusting off her dress as she stood up from where she sat.

“Oh, right. You call your god, God as well, so I get how that might be confusing,” God pressed a finger to her chin, pondering her options. “I guess you can call me Soyeon. That’s what the other gods call me.”


	3. Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuqi, Soojin and Shuhua are met with level two- the Dungeon of Games. Will they be able to make it out? Who is the mysterious girl Yuqi sees?

Another bright flash of light. Yuqi, Soojin and Shuhua found themselves in a cellar, with a table in front of them.

“Level two, Dungeon of Games?” Shuhua read the text that appeared in front of them in gold, blazing font, “that’s one straightforward name. What are we going to do now?”

“Pick your piece.” A booming voice resonated around them, as a spotlight shone on the table, revealing three small objects on top of it.

“A pawn, a dice and a … sheet of paper?”

“I’m good at chess, so I’ll pick the pawn,” Yuqi walked over, picking up her piece.  _ Could this get even more obvious, though? _

“I have no idea what the paper or dice should be,” Soojin was perplexed, “but the dice looks like a luck based board game. Shu, you have good luck when it comes to this stuff, so I’ll go for the paper.”

“You don’t have to change it because of me, you know,” Shuhua frowned, placing a hand on Soojin’s shoulder, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Don’t worry about me, Shu.”

_ God, I love her so much, _ Shuhua forgot that they were telepathically connected for an instance. Soojin blushed, reaching over to hug her, “Whatever this dice is, come back safe, okay?”

“Wow, guys, lots of concern for Yuqi over here,” she quipped sarcastically, watching the other two from a distance, “ _ Come back safe? _ ” She pitched her voice higher, mimicking Soojin, before returning to her normal voice, “Yes, thank you, Soojin, I’ll be careful.”

“Oh, shut up, Yuqi,” Shuhua rolled her eyes, poking fun at her friend, “Maybe you’ll get some unsuspecting NPC to be your girlfriend here.”

“Hopefully, or I’ll be stuck third-wheeling you two until the bitter end,” Yuqi sighed exasperatedly.

Shuhua picked up the dice, and suddenly, the cellar went dark. When she finally saw light again, she was alone.  _ Great, they split us up,  _ she thought to herself,  _ should’ve seen this coming. _

_ “I can still hear you, Shu,” _ came Soojin’s voice in her head,  _ “Don’t worry. You can do this.” _

“Choose your class,” the same announcer from earlier, and the same blazing text in front of her.

_ Wait, these are the classes from Dungeons and Dragons, _ Shuhua’s eyes lit up as she read the list of 12 classes, choosing… 

“Sorcerer!” Now this was a challenge she could get behind.

“You chose the magically talented Sorcerer class. Weak in melee combat, but a master of arcane magic, the Sorcerer is a highly powerful individual if in the right hands. You who chose this class are naturally gifted, with your own original spells at your disposal. Beware of those attacking from behind.”

“Behind?” Shuhua turned around, palms smoldering with magic. Glowing eyes appeared in the dark, accompanied with low growls.

_ “Ignis!” _ Almost as if she knew the spells all along, Shuhua shouted, launching a fireball into the air, illuminating the darkness. For a split second, she saw what she was up against- a pack of wolves with eyes gleaming amber.

“Wolves, huh? Not too bad for a flame magic user.” What she was really concerned about, was the chance that she would run into a dragon. Summoning a flurry of flaming arrows, she pointed a finger towards the wolves, sending the projectiles their way. Hitting each wolf multiple times, the animals keeled over, whimpering, before they vanished into thin air.

Pumping a fist in celebration, Shuhua relished in the scent of smoke as it dissipated all around her. That was probably a level 1 mob. Picking up the drops from the wolves, she placed them into her inventory by throwing them upwards.

“Alright, now to the next dungeon.” Shuhua wondered how the other two were doing, already missing having Soojin beside her while clearing levels.

After the cellar they were in went dark, Soojin found herself standing in front of a door. “Dr. Seo Soojin, welcome to the Jeon mansion,” the announcer greeted her, the text ‘JEON MANSION MURDER MYSTERY’ appearing before her.

“Dr. Seo Soojin?” She was confused, looking down at her getup. It had changed completely from her Queen of Hearts skin, to a plain sweater and jeans, accompanied by a small briefcase. Opening it, she found all sorts of medical supplies. Ah, so she was the healer again.

A murder mystery game. This was right up her alley. Thinking about the possibility of Shuhua playing this made her chuckle.  _ She would probably be so lost, like a little puppy,  _ she thought,  _ that’s adorable. _ She missed Shuhua. There was never a single quest that they didn’t clear together, even while she was playing a murder mystery visual novel at 4 am, Shuhua always called to keep her company and for her to bounce her ideas off of.

“Alright, here goes nothing.” Opening the door, Soojin revealed herself to the people inside. A rich family, hunched over none other than a dead body.  _ Just perfect _ . Soojin’s body moved on its own, towards the man on the floor, who was no longer breathing.

Checking his breathing, heartbeat and pupil dilation, she pronounced the man dead.  _ Was that it? No, there’s definitely going to be more. _

“These wounds… He didn’t die of natural causes,” one of the other characters told her, flipping the body over to reveal a scratched up back, almost as if he had been mauled by an animal. Soojin wanted to gag at the sight, unable to turn away. The NPC continued, “there have been sightings of a werewolf recently, and I suspect it’s one of the members of our family. Please, Doctor, find out who it is.”

She had a new objective: to find who the werewolf was, before they killed another person… or worse, killed her. Dying here was risky, as she had no idea if she would suffer the same fate in her old world. More than that, Shuhua would be devastated if she left. No, that wasn’t right. She would be devastated without Shuhua.

“Come, sit with us at dinner.” Ah, so she had to find clues from their behaviour? This was going to be fun.

Dinner was served. Steak, with spinach on the side.  _ Weird, don’t they usually put broccoli with this?  _ Soojin stifled a laugh, as the conversations between the NPCs began. The atmosphere was tense, as the members of the family were all suspicious of each other, giving each other pointed looks as they talked.

“I’d like to thank the Doctor for coming to assist us,” the father raised his glass, as everyone else did the same. Soojin looked around. Was there anyone who was visibly uncomfortable? Anyone who had a bad reaction to the father’s statement? These games often hid those things in the conversations, but it was up to her to investigate herself afterwards.

One of the kids was poking at her steak, and seemed rather detached from the conversation. She couldn’t blame her, she might have just seen a dead body, after all- but it was suspicious. Seeing her menu change, it confirmed her hunch was right. She had to investigate this girl next.

Clearing wave after wave of monsters was exhausting. Shuhua sat down, propping her body against the wall, trying to catch her breath. The boss room was in sight, and judging by her powers, along with the design of the doors that led to the final dungeon, she knew that this wasn’t going to work in her favour.

Could it be any more obvious that she had to fight fire with fire?  _ Literally? _

Sighing, Shuhua got up from her spot on the ground, pushing the doors open, and there it was. A living, fire-breathing dragon. Just her luck.

‘ELEMENTAL NULLIFICATION’, the tutorial read. Groaning in frustration, Shuhua waved the tutorial away, “I know, I know…” Now, how was she going to get through this? Well, even so, flame magic was the only thing she could do, and melee attacks were out of the question, seeing as her class was Sorcerer, and the dragon was humongous.

A cutscene played, Shuhua suddenly having an out of body experience as she saw herself, standing bravely in front of the dragon.

“Finally, a human that has broken through my dungeon of terrors!”  _ So, apparently dragons could talk now? _

“It wasn’t that terrifying to begin with,” Shuhua retorted, though it wasn’t out of her own will.  _ Can this me please shut up?  _ She thought, mentally smacking herself.

“You fool, you think too lightly of me. Your real challenge starts now, mortal. Cower beneath the might of Sauros!” Snickering, Shuhua thought to herself,  _ it literally just called itself a lizard in Latin. That’s hilarious. _

The battle started. Shuhua shot a pillar of fire at the dragon, sighing exasperatedly when she saw it didn’t have any effect on its HP bar, instead just angering it even more. The dragon roared, opening its jaws as a ball of energy collected in the depths of its oral cavity.  _ That did not seem good. _

Arching its neck, the dragon bellowed once again, hellfire pouring from its mouth straight towards Shuhua. She had to think fast.

What should Shuhua do?

> Block  
\- Evade

Shuhua raised her arms, preparing herself for the impact.  _ I hope this works, _ she thought to herself, running through the image in her head. Theoretically- though there wasn’t anything theoretical about being in a fantasy world- she would be able to divert the flames, like a firebender.

The flames shot towards her at an alarming speed. She had to be precise.  _ What would Soojin do? _ Spreading her arms out from their previous ‘X’ position, she was able to direct the flames away from her, watching as they dissipated in thin air. It worked. Shuhua heaved a sigh of relief, turning to face the dragon again.

A sound of dripping.  _ Was that crack in the ceiling always there?  _ She was sure that there was something above, something liquid.  _ Soyeon, I swear, if this is gasoline…  _ She shuddered at the possibility of accidentally triggering an explosion if she judged it wrongly. Then again, it was too obvious of a hint to be a trap.

The dragon looked like it was preparing itself to strike again. Now was her chance. Blazes rained down from the dragon’s jaws once again, but this time, Shuhua was prepared. Waving her arms around, she collected the fire into one large ring around her body, illuminating her face like an angel’s halo.

Stretching out her arms, she prayed that she could work it like it played out in her head. Raising her head to look up at the dragon, she curved her hands upwards, pointing towards above the dragon’s head.

The flames that surrounded her shot up, following her command. “Yes!” She whooped in glee as the ceiling came crashing down, flooding the final dungeon with water. The dragon cried out as it dissolved from the contact of the water, as Shuhua climbed to safety before the tides could get to her. The dungeon went pitch black, as a glowing doorway appeared in front of her. Level cleared.

Each night, one of the members of the family got picked off.  _ Strange _ , Soojin thought,  _ wasn’t this about a werewolf?  _ Every clue she found brought her closer and closer to the suspect, asking around if there was anyone who snuck out at night, or if anyone heard any strange sounds.

She snooped around the characters’ rooms, looking under pillows and beds. Time went strangely quickly in this game, she noted, watching as the hours ticked by whenever she made a new discovery. It was then that she found concrete evidence. A tuft of gray animal hair on a pillow.

She was in the endgame now.

That night, Soojin didn’t sleep. She was down to two suspects, and knowing these games, something terrible was going to happen soon if she didn’t uncover the werewolf quickly. She just wasn’t sure if she was too late.

_ Come on, Soojin, think, _ she wrote furiously on her notepad, drawing links between the events that happened in the game. The father, who talked to her on the first night, or the daughter, who always eyed her suspiciously?

That’s it. It must be-

A dark object hurled through the window of the room she was staying in, glass flying all over the floor. The wolf growled at her, baring its teeth and drooling from the corners of its mouth. Soojin steeled her nerves as the animal turned to face her, saying a quick prayer.  _ Soyeon, if you let me die here… _

It pounced. A new objective appeared before her: identify the suspect. “Are you kidding?” She ran towards the door, trying to get a distance between her and the werewolf.  _ Think faster! _ She sped down the halls, never once looking back. Nearing a dead end, she cursed under her breath. It was now or never.

“Stop, Diana!” She shouted the daughter’s name, and the bell signalling that she was correct sounded… 

But she was too late. A sharp pain pierced her senses as she reached for the medicine in her bag, trying to heal herself. Three claw marks marked her back as the world went dark and the illuminated doorway appeared before her. She frantically applied the medicine, and the wounds closed up painfully, tears stinging her eyes as she struggled to get up, dried blood staining her clothes. Her sweater was in shreds, revealing soft skin underneath, dyed a deep shade of crimson by the scratches.  _ That was definitely going to leave a mark. _

On Yuqi’s side, things were wildly different. When things went dark, she was transported to a giant chessboard, in the position of the black king. On the other side, there was another girl, standing in the position of the white queen. Looking closely, Yuqi could see that her hands and feet were tied up in chains as she stood in her spot, a yellow marker hovering above her head signalling that she was in fact an NPC- a non-player character, a pure figment of the world.

“Who are you?” No answer. The girl only looked into the distance, not even sparing a glance at Yuqi.

“Start the game.” The white king bellowed, moving its head towards the girl, who obliged by stretching out her hands, seemingly controlling the other pieces.  _ White moves first. _

The pawn in the front of the line moved two spaces forward, momentarily changing from a giant chess piece to the image of a medieval soldier. When it stopped at its destination, it took the shape of a pawn again.  _ Interesting, _ Yuqi thought, thinking about her next move.  _ Okay, so if I move the pawn in the middle, they can attack and it’ll be gone. I need to be careful. _

Her eyes flicked back up to the unknown girl, and for a split second, their eyes met. The girl’s eyes conveyed all the sadness and loneliness in the world- a bit too much for an NPC. For a split second, Yuqi wondered whether this girl was really just another one of Soyeon’s creations, or if she was human as well.

It didn’t matter- she had to save her.

_ Knight, move. _ Her brain was struggling to keep up with the board, seeing the chess pieces shapeshifting to become human-like, actually sword fighting and dying on the spot where they met. The other side had two more pieces than she did. This wasn’t good.

“Queen, move.” Almost as if on cue, the chains shackling the girl’s hands disappeared into thin air. Grabbing a sword from the knight next to her, the White Queen leapt into action, straight at Yuqi.

Yuqi nimbly sidestepped the queen’s attack, picking another blade up from one of the fallen knights and blocking. She may have looked frail, but this girl landed solid hits. Grunting, Yuqi strained under the weight of the longsword, preparing herself for another hit, but it never came. Right, so the queen already made her move.

The girl’s body drooped to the side, dropping her sword on the floor with a clatter that resonated through the room. Wiping her sweat with her hand, Yuqi turned to face the other king. Was she even able to win this by checkmate? Two more moves, and the queen would be able to check her again. Scanning the room, a white knight was approaching fast. Judging from the way things were going,  _ she _ was the one who was going to be checkmated first.

Two doors opened behind the white king, the light from the hallways shining through. Soojin and Shuhua stumbled through each door, Shuhua’s hands surrounded with flames and Soojin’s top seemingly ripped to shreds.

The same golden text appeared in midair- a new mission. “Defeat the overlord,” Yuqi read, turning to the girl who was back in chains, her arms being held up by her restraints. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of here.” She promised, kneeling before the NPC and placing a hand on her face.

“Jinjin, what happened to you?” She heard Shuhua ask, and turned towards them. Soojin’s back was a ghastly sight, three claw marks that were already scars, but stood out to her all the same. Shuhua ran to embrace her girlfriend, tracing the wounds with her fingers.

“It’s okay, I healed myself,” Soojin smiled weakly, “I’m so happy I can see you again.” She nuzzled into the crook of Shuhua’s neck, enjoying the moment, however brief.

“I missed you too,” Shuhua pecked Soojin’s exposed shoulder, looking at her back with sad eyes.

“Hey,” Yuqi tried to get their attention, “Dungeon still hasn’t been cleared, lovebirds.”

Soojin took a look at the other two, her attire changing again to that of a simple blue robe. “Thanks, Soyeon,” she talked to the ceiling, hoping that the god could hear. “Shall we?” Her hands glowed with symbols the same colour as her robe, and she assumed a fighting stance.

The exterior of the king piece melted off, revealing a monstrous being which glowed with a dark purple aura. Its eyes glowed with an eerie light, similar to the wolves Shuhua had defeated earlier, but more sinister and cold. A long, red HP bar appeared on the top of its head, and they watched as it roared, the sound shaking the room.

“Let’s go, guys,” Yuqi gripped the longsword tightly, her attire changing to that of a swordswoman as she ran towards the monster, leaping up high and driving her blade into its back, sliding down as far as she can, using her body weight to inflict more damage. Pulling her sword out, it was sticky with a dark goo which she shook off onto the floor. “Gross,” she made a face at the substance, wiping some more off her face.

The monster bellowed in pain, its HP bad decreasing slightly. “Damn,” Shuhua panted, still tired from her endeavours earlier, “This guy is strong.”

“Check its status,” Soojin suggested, pulling up her menu.  _ Always the strategic one.  _ “It’s weakened by light,” she furrowed her brows, “Shu, isn’t your element fire?”

“I’m on it.” Waving her arms, Shuhua summoned a flurry of fireballs into the sky, illuminating the room instantly with a burning heat. “Try hitting it again, Yuqi,” Shuhua groaned, trying to keep her body from collapsing under the immense load. Soojin rushed over to support her, casting healing spells as quickly as possible. “Thank you, Jinjin.”

Yuqi rushed towards the enemy again, bringing her sword down with a mighty yell. This time, she couldn’t pull her weapon out from where she stabbed it in. Unable to maintain her grip, she was thrown far away by the King thrashing around in pain.

“Yuqi!” Shuhua screamed, watching her friend get hurled onto the ground, her body rolling limply a few times, “Jin, I’ll be fine. Help her!”

Soojin nodded, already preparing a revival spell for their fallen friend. Shuhua was losing control, her vision going red with anger. The orbs of fire glowed brighter, shining with the heat of a thousand suns. No one would get away with hurting her friends, and she would make sure of it. Her entire body glowed with power, her hair beginning to float behind her, as she summoned as much energy as she could muster.

Letting out a guttural cry, Shuhua sent the fireballs crashing onto the monster, incinerating everything in sight. How much HP did it have left? Her vision became fuzzy as she stumbled, kneeling onto the ground. The last thing she remembered before she passed out was Soojin being hunched over her, casting a million spells at once.

“Shuhua? Shuhua!” Soojin shook her, “She’s burning up,” She put a hand to her forehead, checking the temperature of the flame sorcerer. It didn’t take a genius to tell that she had overexerted herself, her breathing quick and shallow as she lay unconscious. 

The smoke cleared, revealing the Overlord, with the same purple goo running down its sides. Checking its HP bar, Yuqi gritted her teeth. One more strike, and it would be over. Taking another sword from one of the fallen knights, she approached her enemy.

“Soojin, take care of Shuhua. I’m going to end this.”

Yuqi drew back, taking a deep breath. “Let’s try this,” she muttered, closing her eyes as energy pooled around her sword, the blade glowing bright blue as a gale picked up, blowing the smoke away in a ring around her. Raising her chin to glare at the monster defiantly, Yuqi’s eyes shone with a bright white light.

Running towards the monster, Yuqi jumped, raising her blade above her head, slashing it down onto its body. She crouched to absorb the impact of the fall, standing up slowly as beams of light shone out of the body of the Overlord, watching as it imploded, vision going white. It was over.

Throwing her sword down, Yuqi rushed towards the girl, kneeling beside her as she struggled to get up, “Are you okay?” The girl nodded, looking up to meet her eyes. That gaze again. Her eyes carried galaxies, as she stared up at Yuqi innocently- and Yuqi could feel her heart breaking at the sight. This was no ordinary NPC.

“My name is Yuqi, what’s yours?”

“Minnie.”

“Can you stand?” Soojin stretched out an arm to Shuhua, who latched onto her. Soojin’s hands were cold, contrasting her warm palms. “Thank you, Jinjin,” Shuhua murmured into her ear as they were stuck in an embrace.

“Well done, guys!” Soyeon appeared again, applauding their success, “Did you guys like your powers?”

“Of course I did,” Yuqi puffed out her chest, bragging, “I looked like a total badass, carrying the team like that.”

“Yeah, right,” Soojin rolled her eyes, “you two would’ve died from going Super Saiyan without me.”

“Yes, of course,” Yuqi grinned, “what would our team be without support master Seo Soojin?” Glancing behind her, she noticed Minnie’s confused expression. “Oh, I forgot to introduce the others. The explosive one is Shuhua, and that’s Soojin, her personal healer.”

“Wait,” Soyeon suddenly spoke up after a long while of thinking, “This little one right here, she’s special. One of my best creations so far. She has her own mind, so she’s not your average NPC. You know what, I think you can actually recruit her to be part of your party. What do you say?”

“Well, I say recruit her, of course!” Yuqi jumped at the chance, “I’m sick of third-wheeling these two idiots,” she sighed, “I’m joking, obviously.”

“We know,” Soojin and Shuhua replied in unison, smiling fondly at Yuqi.

“Great! Minnie, you’re now a part of their party.”

Minnie curtsied to them, bowing her head, “I hope we can all get along.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> faster updates on my twitter @orbitlands !!


	4. The Goddess

After they cleared level 2, they anticipated the next challenge as the screen went dark. A woman in a white dress floated down from the heavens, glowing with an ethereal light. Her long, wavy hair cascaded behind her, and whoa- was that a choir singing? The four girls looked at the woman in shock, as the title of the new level appeared: ‘Trials of the Goddess’. Landing gracefully, she turned to look at the girls, smiling serenely.

“Greetings, travellers, I am the goddess Aphrodite. With the rise of my mortal enemy Ares and the great dragon Sauros who was freed from the Dungeon of Games, the queendom of Grecia is in peril. You must defeat the dragon and the men rallying behind it, and restore harmony to this realm before Ares gets his way.”

The scene faded, and they found themselves in a forest, wildly different from the dungeon they were once in.

“Sauros was the dragon I fought last,” Shuhua furrowed her brows, “I had flame magic then, so it wasn’t easy. I had to collapse a whole ceiling on it, the dumb lizard.”

“Sounds like you set it free,” Yuqi mused, “Did it somehow get away? Maybe it was for the plot.”

“No idea, dude. I didn’t see anything related to how it escaped, so maybe Soyeon planned this.”

“Makes sense,” Yuqi tapped her chin, “We don’t have any special powers anymore, so we’ll all have to do sword fighting… maybe except Soojin, she can use bows.”

“I want an axe,” Shuhua grinned wickedly, “I’ve always wanted to be a plumber.” The other three girls looked at her, confused.

“A lumberjack?” Soojin corrected her hesitantly, and Shuhua’s face turned red. “Uh, yeah, t-that’s what I meant,” she stammered, covering her face in embarrassment, “sorry, words.”

“What’s a plumber?” Minnie asked.  _ Right, she was from a fantasy world, so she probably didn’t know what a plumber was. _

“You don’t need to know that!” Shuhua flailed her arms trying to distract Minnie, as Soojin and Yuqi laughed at her.

“So, Minnie, tell us more about yourself,” Yuqi slung an arm around their newest companion, as they trudged through a forest.

“Well, I was born into a family of witches,” Minnie started, thinking back to the past, “My mother was a witch while my father was a swordsman, so I started to train at a young age.”

“That explains how you nearly lopped my head off when you were fighting me,” Yuqi shuddered, as Minnie opened her mouth to apologise, “I’m joking, I know you didn’t want to do that. Please, carry on.”

“Soon they discovered that I had a rare talent that hadn’t appeared in the bloodline for centuries,” she looked a little sad as if something unpleasant happened that she didn’t want to remember, “I had the power of dreams, to make anything come true… but at a price. That’s why my family locked me away, afraid that people would find me.” The other girls looked at her sympathetically, saddened by her backstory.

“For a while, I lived the life of a recluse- my family wouldn’t let me go anywhere, or meet anyone they didn’t trust. They thought they were protecting me, and they really tried to… but those people found me all the same.”

“I guess that’s something we all have in common- being a recluse,” Soojin shook her head, sighing, “I’m really sorry that happened to you, Minnie.”

“The Overlord tricked me by pretending to be my friend, before he locked me up in the very same dungeon you freed me from, forcing me to make his wishes come true. So, thank you. You saved me.” Minnie looked teary-eyed, as Yuqi went in for another hug, leaning her head on Minnie’s shoulder.

“It’s okay now, Minnie,” Shuhua patted the girl on the back, “You have us.”

“Yeah, as fellow former recluses, we have a special bond,” Yuqi laughed. The three of them had met on the internet, previously being separated geographically. Being transported into this world was the first time they had ever met, but they never let that stop them.

Shuhua was from Taiwan, and as the heir to a fortune, she wasn’t allowed to make many friends. In a way, her story was similar to Minnie’s, so she felt a strange degree of connection to the girl. It was only through meeting strangers online- though she couldn’t really see the difference between that and doing it in real life- that she could find her safe space.

On the other hand, Soojin didn’t really know how to talk to people in social settings. When she was still at school, she’d be admired for her pretty looks, but she never really spoke to anyone except one or two close friends. Where she really could be herself was behind the mask of a social media account and a fake name, playing games with friends that felt far dearer to her than those she met in real life.

Yuqi spent almost all of her life studying. Being a stellar student at school, she had many, many friends- but felt that almost all of them didn’t see her for who she really was. It was through gaming that she could really find solace, away from all the expectations people had of her. In the virtual world, she was no longer expected to break her back studying for something she didn’t really want to do, and she wouldn’t give that up for the world.

“Should we set up camp here?” Soojin spotted a campfire, pointing to it in the distance. Shuhua and Yuqi squinted, trying to see what she was talking about.

“Is there anything we need to worry about around?” Shuhua asked, peering as far as she could, “You guys can set up camp first, I can scout the perimeter.”

“Shuhua, no,” Yuqi shot her a pointed look, “You’re somehow going to burn the entire forest down, even though you don’t have your flame magic anymore.”

“You’d taste nice on a barbecue, though,” Shuhua poked Yuqi’s cheeks, “look at all this meat.”

“Oh, shut up,” Yuqi rolled her eyes, “Soojin, you have the advantage of range. Can you do it?”

“I don’t see why not,” Soojin shrugged, “I’ll get rid of as many as I can before I cook our dinner.”

“Will you let me help out?” Shuhua pouted, clinging onto Soojin’s arm.

“No, Shuhua, you’re terrible at cooking,” Yuqi scoffed, “stick to starting the fire.”

“Fine,” the youngest stuck her tongue out at Yuqi, who made the same face back.

“You three get along really well,” Minnie noted, smiling a little at their antics, “I never knew what it was like to have friends like you do.”

“Don’t say that!” Yuqi exclaimed, turning her full attention to the other girl, “we’re your friends now, and we will be from now on, okay?”

“Of course. Thank you,” Minnie laughed, “Though I must admit, I wouldn’t barbecue my friends.” Shuhua chortled at her comment, leaning onto Soojin.

“Alright, this is it,” Soojin announced, “I’ll find a tree to sit in while you guys build the tent.” Walking off, she climbed up into a tree, waiting for any unsuspecting mobs that found their way into the campsite’s vicinity.

Was that… oinking she heard? Training her eyes onto the distance, she saw a troupe of men with pigs for heads. Pigmen? She squeezed one of her eyes shut as she drew her bow. It was time to test out the way this game worked, and it really just depended on whether the mobs would swarm her after she killed one off.

Exhaling a deep breath, Soojin aimed at the leading pigman, and released an arrow, striking it right in the head. Perfect. Her aim was immaculate, even with arrows. As the monster fell, she anticipated the possibility of two responses. It was either they kept walking on, which was what she wanted, or they noticed her, which wasn’t ideal in the slightest, seeing as they could easily reach her with their lances.

The pigmen seemed to stop in their tracks, looking around and squealing in horror at the sight of their dead companion. They were looking for her, Soojin knew, and it was only a matter of time until they found her. Gritting her teeth, she drew another arrow, firing it at another one of the pigmen, watching as it screeched in pain before it eventually died. The rest of the pigmen turned to look at her spot, and that’s when she knew her position was given away.

“Shit,” she cursed, slinging her bow onto her back, watching as the horde of pigmen ran towards the tree she was on. Climbing onto one of the thickest branches, she jumped towards the next tree, and the next, trying to regain her distance from the mob. Once she found that they were far enough, she fired another arrow.  _ Three down, two more to go. _

Reaching for another branch, she hoisted herself up, but not before she heard a sickening  _ crack _ from where it met its tree. Just her luck, she thought as she put a few more steps in before jumping as far as she could, only barely making it to the centre of the trunk before the branch crashed to the floor. Breathing a sigh of relief, Soojin readied her bow again, preparing to pick the last two off.

And there they were, running towards where the branch fell at full speed. Releasing another arrow, she watched as the last remaining pigman’s eyes glowed red in anger.  _ Cool feature _ , she noted, judging the distance between herself and the monster.

“Alright, let’s try this,” she smirked as she prepared herself for the next move. Planting her feet solidly into the trunk of the tree, she backflipped off, aiming her last shot as everything went slowly. The telltale sound of a headshot rang as she landed on her toes nimbly, hearing the scream of the pigman behind her as it died.  _ All in a day's work.  _ Dusting off her clothes, she returned to the camp- not before picking up the monster loot, of course.

The next day, they set off after a good night’s sleep. The ground was surprisingly comfortable to sleep on, thanks to Soyeon, and the meat that Soojin was able to hunt and cook was delicious. They trekked for hours, taking short breaks in between, cooking what they could find and replenishing their HP. Though, after the fifth pigman camp they raided, Minnie noticed something was wrong.

“Guys, hold up, can we take a break?” Yuqi sat down under the shade of a tree, visibly exhausted despite having rested only 10 minutes ago. She opened her water bottle to take a drink, gulping down large mouthfuls of the liquid.

“Jeez, Yuqi, you’re tired already?” Shuhua ruffled her friend’s hair jokingly, laughing as Yuqi raised an arm to retaliate. The younger girl ran back towards Soojin, giggling. Yuqi sank back down into her spot, arm falling to her side as she closed her eyes and tried to rest. Walking towards her friend, it was then that Minnie finally saw it.

Were her eyes deceiving her, or did Yuqi’s hand just glitch?

What should Minnie do?

> Confront her  
\- Ignore it

“Yuqi, can we talk?” Minnie walked over to the other girl, grabbing her hand and leading her away from the rest.

“What’s wrong, Minnie?” Yuqi asked, concerned, “Is there anything bothering you? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it’s not that,” Minnie shook her head, lowering her voice to a whisper, “You know, when we were resting earlier, I’m not sure if I was seeing things, but I think I saw your hand… just disappear for a split second. I’m worried, because you’ve been getting tired a lot easier than you used to, and I’m just scared something is up.”

A flash of fear crossed Yuqi’s eyes, as she pulled Minnie closer to her, speaking rapidly with her voice low, “Please don’t tell the others about it,” she pleaded, “I have no idea what’s going on, but I want to deal with it myself, okay? I don’t want to trouble everyone else.”

“I think you should-” Minnie tried to convince her again.

“No, I don’t want to,” Yuqi shook her head frantically, “I’ll be fine, I’m sure Soyeon is working things out.”

“If you say so,” Minnie frowned, looking at her with sad eyes, “If it gets any worse, tell me, okay? I don’t want you to go through this alone.”

“I promise, I’m fine,” Yuqi flashed a grin, putting on a happy façade, “I’m sorry that I worried you.”

“But-” Minnie wanted to protest, before Yuqi stood up, announcing, “Alright guys, shall we carry on?” And so they did.

After who-knows-how-many hours of raiding, looting and levelling up, they were exhausted. “Surely, we would have  _ some _ breakthrough in the story right now, right?” Shuhua panted, planting her axe in the ground before sitting down.

“Are you okay, Yuqi?” Minnie was still concerned for her friend, after witnessing what was going on earlier.

“I’m fine! Right as rain,” Yuqi beamed at her, though she was clearly extremely tired.

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“I will-”

A scream cut their conversation off, that of a young girl. Shuhua and Soojin bolted to their feet, grabbing their weapons, Soojin climbing up another tree- was it just Minnie, or was this beginning to become a pattern? While Shuhua ran straight towards the source of the sound, axe ready to swing.

“Help!” The girl cried again, followed by some sounds of struggle. Yuqi and Minnie raced after their friends, blades in hand. The story was progressing, finally.

Reaching a clearing, Shuhua saw her. A girl who probably was barely older than her, in the middle of being tied up by a group of men with their faces covered. Raising her axe, Shuhua was about to start running towards the girl, when she was stopped by a cutscene.

“What are you doing to her?” She heard Yuqi shout, though she was supposed to be miles behind her.

“Fuck, we have company,” one of the leaders of the group growled, stepping out of the cluster, “You two, take the girl away, I’ll deal with these three. Maybe we’ll get even more out of this.” Cracking his knuckles, Shuhua felt a great deal of evil almost seep through the man’s mask and her blood boiled. She barely knew this girl, and she was sure it was just another NPC, but she was  _ furious _ .

As the two lackeys holding the girl were about to back away, an arrow whistled through the air and struck one of them in the head with a loud  _ thunk _ .  _ “I’ve got you covered,” _ Soojin thought to them,  _ “Save her.” _

Shuhua let out a cry, hoisting her axe onto her shoulder and running towards the men, blinded by rage. Bringing it down, she wasn’t surprised that the NPC only crumpled to the floor, disintegrating into dust.  _ Shame, this could've been a lot more satisfying with the blood, _ she thought to herself as she ripped through the battlefield, slashing wildly with her axe thanks to her increased agility in this world.

Yuqi and Minnie weren’t far behind her, clashing swords with the men when the sound of metal on metal echoed through the forest. Swinging her double-handed sword around in circles with her body as the centre, Yuqi mowed down lackey after lackey, bringing her sword down like a giant cleaver, as Minnie slashed at the other NPCs, apologising profusely as they crumbled to dust. Backing up towards each other, the three girls found that they were surrounded.

“You know, Shuhua, now seems like a great time to start a fire or something?” Yuqi hissed, already feeling exhausted.

“I don’t have any powers anymore,” Shuhua whispered back, “all I can do is swing this axe around and hope I hit someone.”

Minnie thought long and hard until she sighed.  _ This was Soyeon’s plan for her all along, huh. _ “Guys. I can do something, but you’re probably not going to like it.”

“What is it?”

“Well, we would probably have to sacrifice one of us to get rid of all of them,” Minnie shrugged, saying nonchalantly.

“What?” Yuqi and Shuhua said in unison, staring at Minnie in disbelief.

“No. No way,” Shuhua shook her head, “And Yuqi, you’re not allowed to sacrifice yourself.” Yuqi closed her mouth right as she was about to protest.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it. Good, because I don’t like that idea either.”

_ “How would that even work?” _ Soojin asked, listening in on them telepathically.

“I’ll tell you after this is done with,” Minnie grit her teeth, crouching on the ground, “You see, I normally don’t like to use dark magic, but I’ll make an exception.” Pressing her palms to the ground, Minnie concentrated hard as a magic circle appeared on the ground, glowing a sinister shade of dark purple similar to how the Overlord looked in the dungeon.

Shuhua and Yuqi glanced at each other, before taking a step back from Minnie as the other girl’s eyes became sunken dark pits, her hair seemingly defying gravity as an aura they’ve never felt before formed.

“Jesus  _ fucking _ Christ,” Yuqi swore, watching wide-eyed as the lackeys’ movement slowed to a stop.

“I’ve stopped time for a little bit. It’s the most I can do with sacrifices from the other side, but it’ll do for now,” Minnie didn’t stand up from her previous position, as she fed more magical energy into the circle. An arrow lodging itself in the skull of one of the men snapped Shuhua and Yuqi back to reality.

“Here goes nothing,” Yuqi went into a ready stance, taking off and taking out as many men as she could. Shuhua did the same, grabbing her axe and swinging it at anything and everything until she lost count. It was comforting, knowing Soojin was supporting them in the background, shooting at anything they might have missed.

In an instant, time resumed. The magic circle disappeared from the ground with a  _ zap _ , and Minnie fell to the ground, a trail of blood trickling from her nose. The men that they had slashed at all disintegrated- except one. The last remaining bandit rushed towards the fallen Minnie, sword raised and ready to strike.

“Minnie!” Shuhua shouted, running as quickly as she could, readying her axe to strike, when-

_ Wham! _ An arrow struck the man straight in the eye, the NPC disintegrating before he could even touch the floor. Shuhua screeched to a halt, throwing her axe to one side and rushing to her unconscious comrade. Flipping her over, Shuhua was relieved to see that her eyes had returned to normal, except for the trickle of nosebleed that she had.

“Are you guys okay?” Soojin came running over, as Shuhua left Yuqi to tackle her girlfriend in a hug.

“That last hit was amazing, Jinjin!” Shuhua peppered her face in kisses, showering her with love, “Really, we’d probably all be dead if it weren’t for you!”

“Guys. The other NPC,” Yuqi reminded them, hoisting Minnie up and onto her back, “We need to unlock the rest of the story.”

“Oh, right,” Shuhua smacked herself, leading Soojin over and untying the NPC girl’s ropes.

“What’s your name?” Soojin asked softly, seeing her scared expression.

“My name is Cho Miyeon, ma’am.”

Once they set up camp, they sat around the fire, Minnie lying to the side with a wet towel on her forehead. They weren’t really sure what to do with the new NPC, who seemed to just be tagging along with them.

“So… what brings you here in the forest?” Yuqi tried to break the silence by asking something that could trigger a new dialogue.

“I was running away,” Miyeon took a sip of the hearty soup Soojin made for them, before continuing, “I live in a village not far from here, when my father told me I had a suitor for an arranged marriage. He was larger than me, stronger than me, and much older than me, so I took my chances because it’s better to end up dead in the forest than dead by some man’s hands.”

“I’m so sorry,” Shuhua frowned, “I thought Grecia would be better than this, it being a queendom and all.”

“The capital was where I wanted to go because that’s where the goddess Aphrodite shines on us all,” Miyeon smiled wistfully, “I prayed to her every day that I would be able to find true love… and it seems that my prayers have been answered. She gave me another chance.” Scooching over to Shuhua, Miyeon was making so much eye contact that she backed away awkwardly, glancing at Soojin for support.

“Um, she’s taken,” Soojin coughed loudly, holding her ladle almost threateningly as she glared at Miyeon, who looked away sheepishly.

“Uh… so what do you want us to do?” Yuqi stammered, looking at her friends nervously.

“Since I’ve run into you here, I’ve decided that it must be fate,” Miyeon smiled, “Come with me to the capital, I can show you the way.”

“What’s going on, guys?” Minnie woke up, rubbing her eyes groggily, “Oh, you saved her.”

“I’m Miyeon,” she beamed at the other girl, and Minnie felt her heart skip a beat. There was something about this girl… she seemed different. Otherworldly, even.

“I’m Minnie. I hope we get along.”

“Alright, this is it. The capital.” Miyeon sighed, looking around at the state of the place. There were only a few men here and there, and it certainly wasn’t the thriving metropolis where women could express themselves that Miyeon made it out to be.

“It’s different from what I expected,” Minnie frowned, “I was thinking it’d be a bit more…”

“Lively?” Miyeon finished her sentence for her, “unfortunately, that’s how it is now. Ever since the other side got Sauros back, they’ve invaded us even more.”

“Sauros again…” Shuhua was lost in thought, “I’ve fought him before.”

“You’re the strange sorcerer who let him go?” Miyeon crinkled her brows, “I heard that it was a man who did it, but I couldn’t imagine it was  _ you _ .”

“Leave her alone, she was just defending herself,” Soojin was unusually hot-headed when it came to Shuhua, immediately jumping to her defence.

“I’ll defeat him again,” Shuhua promised, “ _ We’ll _ defeat him, then Ares, and we’ll save Grecia.”

“That’s the spirit, Shushu,” Yuqi patted the youngest on the head, “Now, how are we going to get to the end of this?”

“Follow me,” Miyeon beckoned them into an alley, far away from the dreary streets.

“I really do hope she isn’t kidnapping us,” Yuqi whispered to Shuhua, who giggled.

“Welcome, to the temple of Aphrodite.” Before them, stood a statue of the goddess, looking down at them serenely. Their visions went dark once again, as they were transported into the temple for their next task.

“Where’s Soojin and Shuhua?” Yuqi asked as the darkness lifted, looking around her and only seeing Minnie, “Where’s Miyeon?”

“Right here,” not far from them, they heard Miyeon’s voice.

_ “Where’s everyone else?” _ Yuqi heard Shuhua’s voice in her head, and she thought back,  _ “We’ve been separated again. Soyeon must really like this stuff.” _

_ “I’m with Shuhua,” _ Soojin reported,  _ “Maybe this is something to do with love? Since it’s Aphrodite’s temple?” _

“We’ve been separated,” Miyeon said a moment later, “I’m not really sure why, but I have a feeling this is going to be about love.”  _ Ah, the pre-programmed dialogue. _

“You heard that, lovebirds?” Yuqi said out loud on purpose, knowing Soojin and Shuhua could hear her, “it’s your time to shine.”

_ “Shut, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck up,” _ Shuhua groaned, and Yuqi heard a laugh from Soojin. Mercilessly teasing her friends was her job, so it was always funny to see- or hear their reactions, even though Yuqi knew that they didn’t take it personally.

“First test. The Sun,” Yuqi read out loud,  _ “Is yours the same?” _

“Don’t think so. It says the Lovers. Like the tarot cards?” Soojin wondered out loud, Shuhua shrugging.

“Makes sense. Or maybe it’s to do with the gods? Like the Sun is Apollo…”

“... and the Lovers is for Aphrodite,” Shuhua finished Yuqi’s sentence. Directing her attention to Soojin, she wrapped her arms around the older girl’s neck, “So, should we kiss?”

_ “Gross,” _ Yuqi thought back to them,  _ “I can hear you.”  _ Sighing, she turned towards Minnie, looking straight into her eyes, “You won’t make me fifth wheel you and Miyeon, right?”

“What?” Minnie was flustered, whispering so that Miyeon couldn’t hear.

“You two keep making eyes at each other, you’re so obvious it hurts.” Yuqi rolled her eyes.

“She’s pretty, okay?” Minnie sighed, pressing a finger to her temple, “I don’t know why, but I’m drawn to her.”

A bell tolled, snapping Minnie and Yuqi back to reality. Both challenges started for the two groups, but they were wildly different in nature.

Minnie, Miyeon and Yuqi were met with an obstacle course, with swinging axes dropping down from the ceiling.  _ This was a bit too meta,  _ Yuqi thought to herself as she clearly saw the blades cut through stone, shuddering at the thought of them crashing into her body. Soyeon made it so that they had enhanced capabilities, but one hit from those would definitely take her right out.

“Is she being serious right now?” Yuqi complained, directed at Soyeon, “That stopping time thing would be very useful right about now, Minnie.”

“About that,” Minnie averted her eyes from Yuqi, “I don’t have a ‘sacrifice’ to use.”

“Oh.” The realisation dawned on Yuqi, recalling her previous words with Minnie, “So, you have to have a human sacrifice for this?”

“Yes, and the more important that person is to me, the greater the effects of the thing I can do.”

“So that means…” Yuqi was afraid to continue her sentence, fearing the worst.

“If it’s just enemies, it depends on how many there are. Right now, we have none, so I can’t really do anything. If it’s a friend, it can probably wipe out a whole army. And if it’s myself…” Minnie went quiet, unwilling to continue.

“Let’s just hope we’ll never have to use that, then.” Yuqi patted her on the back, holding her hand for reassurance, “This course isn’t unclearable, but I’m not quite sure about Miyeon here.”

“Hey! I can hear you,” Miyeon put her hands on her hips, huffing at Yuqi, “I can handle myself fine, thank you very much. Besides, I’ve been practising the art of healing magic, so if you two get into trouble, you’ll have me.”  _ Somehow, that wasn’t very reassuring…  _

“Okay. What we have to do is look at the timings,” Yuqi watched as the axes swung rhythmically, peering as far as she could.

“It looks like only one of us will have to get to the end,” Miyeon said suddenly, her demeanour changing again.  _ Okay, that was a little creepy. _

“I’ll do it,” Yuqi volunteered, “I’ve done these courses before- in-game, but it doesn’t matter, so I can probably do this.”

“Okay, Yuqi,” Miyeon half smiled at her, slightly distant, “shall we begin the challenge?”

“Bring it on,” Yuqi smirked, stretching as she approached the starting line. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she set off.

Running towards the first axe, she ducked past it easily, her footsteps ringing across the room they were in. Jumping to the side, she avoided another blade swinging straight towards her, exhaling in relief. This was a piece of cake so far, but she couldn’t get cocky.

Sliding on the floor, she dodged a wrecking ball which was about to hit her head-on. That was a mistake, she realised as a hammer made its way down towards her.  _ Fuck _ . Rolling to the side, she was only inches away from becoming a Yuqi patty. “Soyeon, I swear to- well, you,” she panted, trying to gather her nerves before continuing, but the course had other ideas.

A dart whizzed past her, narrowly missing her eye. “Motherfucker,” Yuqi swore, concentrating and watching for anything else that might fly her way. Soyeon really was merciless with these obstacles, she thought as she looked down at the pit of spikes that she had to jump over.

Giving herself some more momentum, she jumped to the first platform, crouching as it shook underneath her weight. Applying force and swinging the platform backwards, she leapt towards the next one, pulling herself up. Hearing a snap from behind her, fear struck the deepest parts of her heart. “Don’t look back, Yuqi,” she chided herself- or was it someone else who was guiding her?

“Soyeon, I really do hope you don’t let me die here,” Yuqi breathed heavily as her vision went blurry momentarily. She couldn’t feel her right shoulder, as she kneeled on the unstable platform. The effects of whatever was happening to her were catching up- and fast.

“Yuqi, are you okay?” Minnie yelled as loudly as she could, hoping to reach her newfound friend.

Minnie’s voice. She was saying something, but Yuqi couldn’t really hear her over the distance. This really wasn’t easy. “Good job, Soyeon, you really gave me a challenge,” she muttered, stumbling as she tried to stand upright. Suddenly, she heard a whirring from behind her. What now?

Two large, spinning blades that resembled pizza cutters flew at an alarming speed towards her, moving in all directions and crashing into each other. The end was in sight, and Yuqi was faced with a choice. Either she could try to outrun them, or try to dodge them.

Outrunning them seemed like the wiser choice. It was between her and god now- ironic, to say the least. Hoping her body would withstand the sudden burst of energy she needed it to blast her way to the end of the course, she picked up the pace and ran at full speed.

“Almost there…” she clenched her jaw as she raced towards the end, the button that she had to press to deactivate the course in sight- but it seemed that the universe had other plans.

Her legs gave way, half of her right leg flickering out of view. This time, it hurt like hell, jerking tears from her eyes. Yuqi groaned in pain as the discs whizzed over her head and away, narrowly missing the hairs of her scalp. She could hear distant yelling again- was that Minnie? As she used the last remaining bits of her strength to crawl towards the button, slamming her palm onto it. Mission cleared.

The last thing she remembered before everything going dark was the whirr of mechanical parts as the course deactivated and her friends ran towards her.

“Confess your deepest, darkest secrets,” Soojin read aloud, the text disappearing right after she did, “I don’t have any secrets. None that I’ve kept from you, anyway.” She looked lovingly at her girlfriend, reaching out a hand to stroke her hair, but was met with an invisible wall.  _ I see how it is, then. _

“Jinjin, what’s wrong?” Shuhua looked at her concernedly, as the older girl shrunk her hand back.

“I made a mistake,” Soojin’s voice quivered, “so there’s a wall between us.”

“It’s okay,” Shuhua smiled at her, “We’ll get out of this. I know we can!” Always ever so optimistic. Soojin was reminded of how exactly she fell in love with the girl in front of her, with her neverending hopefulness that contrasted her pessimism.

_ I guess I’ll have to tell her, _ Soojin sighed and shook her head, staring straight at Shuhua. The mood became solemn instantly as they both thought about their next move.

“Maybe I should go first?” Shuhua asked, cocking her head to one side, “I tell you a lot of things, but there are some that I haven’t.”

“Go ahead,” Soojin sighed,  _ really, I don’t know how she does it. _

“You know how I wasn’t allowed to make friends with anyone in real life?” Shuhua sat down on the floor, cross-legged, “You and Yuqi, you were my only friends for god knows how long- but you knew that.”

Pausing for a moment, Shuhua swallowed the lump in her throat before she continued, “I had another friend. Before you guys.” Soojin knew she wasn’t going to like where this was going, judging from how she said it.

“When my parents found out, they forbade me from contacting her ever again,” Shuhua murmured tearfully, “I still wonder how she’s doing, you know? After that, I was so scared that they’d find out I was talking to you guys, and that I’d never talk to you again. But now… now that we’re able to live in this world, I can finally see you guys freely, and I don’t have to worry about that happening to you.”

“I never knew that,” Soojin looked at her girlfriend sympathetically, reaching out- but there was still a wall between them.  _ Here goes nothing. _ “It’s my turn, then. Promise me you won’t change what you think of me after this?” Shuhua shook her head rapidly, as soon as Soojin asked.

“When I first met you, I was… in a slump. A really bad one.” It was painful already, as if she was ripping out the stitches she so carefully put in place to keep this held back. “I didn’t seem like it, but it hurt to even get out of bed sometimes. It was by talking to you that I felt… better. It was still there, but I was better.”

Tears welled up in Shuhua’s eyes, as she scooted over as close as she could, pressing a palm against the invisible wall and inviting Soojin to do the same. Soojin took a deep breath before continuing, “I don’t know how you did it, but you did.”

“You saved me, Shuhua.”

The wall disintegrated, and Shuhua fell forward and into Soojin’s arms. She was crying now, sobbing softly into the older girl’s bosom, “I never knew that,” she wrapped her arms around Soojin, whose tears had also started to flow freely down her cheeks and down her chin, dripping onto Shuhua’s hair, “Thank you for telling me.”

“I love you so much,” Soojin kissed the top of her head, as they sat in an embrace.

“I love you too.”

The room they were in dissolved, and they saw the others- but something was wrong. Miyeon and Minnie were hunched over a fallen Yuqi, Miyeon casting spells over her body but to no avail. Whatever was affecting her, it was outside of the confines of the game.

“Yuqi,” Shuhua breathed, rushing over to her friend’s side as Soojin followed. She was in really bad shape, her face pale and body cold- worst of all, part of her right leg flickered in and out of existence. Whatever Soyeon was doing, she wasn’t doing enough. Shuhua could feel herself simmering with anger, directing all of it at the god for not noticing sooner.

“Soyeon, please,” she heard Soojin praying, “please help her.”

“Do you honestly think she will?” Minnie murmured, seemingly inaudible to the rest of them except Shuhua.

“What do you mean, ‘do you think she will’?” Shuhua asked fervently, “do you know anything about this?” Minnie clammed up almost immediately, knowing that she messed up. “Tell me, Minnie, did you know or not?” Shuhua raised her voice, Minnie backing away.

“Shuhua,” Soojin put a hand on her shoulder, “you’re scaring her.” Breathing hard, Shuhua seemed to deflate instantly, sinking into Soojin’s arms.

“I’ve tried everything I could,” Miyeon stammered, “This isn’t right, there’s nothing affecting her status. Her HP is full, she shouldn’t be like this!”

“Soyeon, if you’re listening- please…” Soojin squeezed her eyes shut, holding Shuhua’s hands in her own.

Almost as if on cue, the scenery around them stopped, losing all saturation. Soyeon finally appeared, the pixels trailing her a deep crimson, as opposed to the bright blue earlier. She was furious. “What happened to her?” She asked with a ferocity wildly different from her usual playful demeanour.

“I don’t know,” Minnie stammered, “She was like this ever since the level started.”

“Soyeon,” Shuhua seethed, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I swear if you had anything to do with this-”

“I don’t know what’s going on either, Shuhua,” Soyeon cast a sorrowful gaze in Shuhua’s direction, somehow… defeated.

“Is she going to die?” Soojin said in a small voice, afraid to hear Soyeon’s answer.

“I…” Soyeon crouched down next to Yuqi, stroking her face, “I’ll see what I can do. I can’t promise you anything, but whatever happened to her, I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“You’d better,” Shuhua was close to tears again, blinking them back rapidly as the thought of losing another friend ate away at her.

“I will. And I’m sorry for not noticing this sooner,” Soyeon placed a hand on Yuqi’s, while her other hand opened a window full of codes. “I’ll fix this, so don’t worry. For now, you’ll have to continue without her, if that’s okay.”

Soyeon disappeared along with Yuqi, leaving the four other girls behind. The movement of the scenery resumed, and they watched as a figure emerged from the shadows. It was the dragon again, and this time it had a man riding on top of it.

“That must be Ares,” Miyeon told them almost automatically, “And the dragon… that’s-”

“Sauros,” Shuhua sighed, “damn lizard.” The other three girls snickered at her comment, watching the dragon roar, fire pouring out of its mouth.

“You. The sorcerer,” Sauros bellowed, “You thought you had defeated me, but you released me from my confines, bringing me back to where I belong- besides the great conqueror, the God of War, Ares!”

“More like the God of Assholes,” Miyeon muttered as Ares made his entrance.

“The flame sorcerer herself,” Ares sneered, “Futile was your attempt to defeat Sauros, and now you have brought him back to me. Together we are stronger than all of you combined…  _ ladies _ .”

“Oh, the misogyny,” Soojin sighed, “Can we just get this cutscene over with?” She couldn’t stand the sight of the man beating his chest any longer, her fingers itching to grab her bow and shoot him square in the face.

“We have to defeat this guy,” Minnie grabbed the hilt of her sword in its sheath, drawing it with a loud  _ shing _ , “Yuqi would want us to.”

“Right,” Shuhua took her axe from its spot on her back, “As she would probably say…  _ ‘kick his ass’ _ .”

Soojin stepped back, starting to scale her way up the walls to a higher vantage point. This was usually a time to distract the enemy for Shuhua, and it was exactly what she did. Grabbing a hand axe from her belt, she hurled it towards the dragon, watching as it sunk into its hide.  _ Good, so this wasn’t some impenetrable monster.  _ Sauros howled in pain, turning its attention towards Shuhua, evidently shown by a bright yellow marker appearing on her head.

“Myeonnie, support me! This is going to get really hectic,” Shuhua warned, as she readied herself for the first wave of combat.

“Got it, Shuhua,” Miyeon waved her hands, a green aura appearing around her.

Minnie ducked to the side as Shuhua took the forefront of the attack, blocking readily with her axe as the dragon smashed a claw down onto her. Taking the chance, she leapt up as Shuhua held the claw in place, slashing as much as she could onto Sauros’ hide. The dragon howled in pain, retracting its claw, which Minnie avoided skillfully, landing back onto her two feet.

As Sauros roared, head facing the ceiling, Soojin saw her chance. Releasing an arrow, she shot the dragon straight in the eye, blinding it temporarily. As expected of a boss battle, it noticed her position instantly, so she scanned the room for another point she could jump to. Grabbing hold onto the bricks that made up the dungeon, she climbed her way down to the second point. This wasn’t the best to hit the dragon, but she could make it work.

At this point, Shuhua really wished she had her magic again, looking down at her diminishing array of ranged weapons she could throw at the dragon. The dungeon they were in was slowly filling up with treasure- as expected of a dragon’s den. Maybe one of these was something to do with water, that could give them an advantage.

“Shuhua, I found something!” Soojin yelled from above, prompting Shuhua to look up. She brandished a blue scroll, which she found on the ledge where she was sitting on.  _ How convenient. _

When Soojin threw the scroll down, Minnie caught it, passing it to Shuhua, whose eyes lit up as soon as she read what it was. “Water spellbook,” she beamed at the others, “This is going to be a piece of cake.” Activating the item, Shuhua’s entire body glowed with a faint blue light.

“Sweet, I’m a waterbender now,” Shuhua grinned, “Let’s see what this baby can do.”

Stretching out her arms, Shuhua half expected something to happen as she concentrated- but to no avail. Right, there’s no water in this room.

“Puny sorcerer,” Ares laughed from his position on Sauros’ back, “Did you really think it’ll be that easy?”

Shuhua grit her teeth as the god cackled, her blood boiling once again at his taunts.  _ Calm down, Shuhua, _ she heard Soojin’s voice in her head, washing over her senses, as she surveyed her surroundings. Being around Soojin calmed the hot-headed Shuhua down, thanks to which she found a way.

“There’s water in the atmosphere,” she realised, grinning to herself, “Minnie, I’m going to need your help.”

“What is it?”

“Hold your sword up. I’ll coat it with ice to make it more deadly.” Shuhua clenched a fist, drawing on as much water vapour as she could. Tiny droplets of water appeared floating in midair, clumping together into one big blob. Raising her sword, Minnie held it steady as the water floated towards her, ice crystals forming around the blade. It got a bit heavier, but that would have to do. Testing the edge of the blade on her finger, Minnie smiled a little seeing that it was sharp enough to draw a little blood, much to the surprise of the others.

“I have a little something up my sleeve, too,” Minnie held her bleeding finger over her blade, and the others watched as a drop of the red liquid fell onto the ice, and the entire length of it turned red. Blood magic. This would definitely do the trick, Minnie thought as she readied herself-

“Wait, Minnie-” Miyeon called out to her, “I’ll heal your finger,” she grabbed her wrist, causing Minnie to blush ever so slightly. Applying her healing magic to it, Miyeon kissed the back of her hand before letting it go. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

The dragon attacked Shuhua again, its entire focus on her. Flames spilled from its open jaws as Shuhua struggled to extinguish them with any water that she could conjure from the surroundings. Taking a step back, Minnie closed her eyes, tapping into the power her ancestors held for generations.

_ “By the power of my blood.” _

Purple tendrils snaked out from under Minnie’s feet, wriggling free from their age-old prison of the Yontararak bloodline. The aura of the room changed immediately, sending a shiver down Soojin’s spine.  _ So this was what she was capable of. _

Minnie opened her eyes, and Shuhua could see that they were the same dark pits as they were before, the symbol of an ancient possession. Minnie hissed, a sound sinister and dark compared to her usual cheery disposition. The tendrils wrapped themselves around her arms and legs, rubbing against each other with a wet squelch.

The purple mass dissolving into her limbs, Minnie exhaled a hot breath, the dark aura intensifying. Shuhua conjured a protective shield of water, feet skidding across the floor as she was pushed back. Losing her footing, Miyeon was flung to the wall of the dungeon, where she barely managed to keep herself upright and casting spells.

Minnie disappeared. Shuhua watched the spot where she used to stand in shock, though the heavy aura never lifted from the room. Every candle on the wall extinguished at once with a gust of wind, leaving the room pitch black. A loud squelch and the next thing they saw as the candles flickered back to life was the dragon’s head flying from its body, already disintegrating into pixels.

“She’s insane,” Shuhua gasped at the sight, as Minnie landed on her feet, crouching down and passing out yet again.

“Well done, you managed to defeat Sauros,” Ares said without skipping a beat, “but… at what cost?” He cast a disapproving glance to the fallen Minnie, whose face was white as a sheet of paper.

“Bastard,” Shuhua growled, tightening her grip on her axe, “come fight me head-on, pussy.”

Ares cackled, hearing Shuhua’s statement, “as you wish, young sorcerer.” He appeared in front of her in a flash, smashing his own axe down to match hers. Shuhua blocked his attack, straining under the pressure- he wasn’t the God of War for nothing, she realised. Backing up, she summoned another stream of water, which crashed towards the god, like a geyser.

This was going to be the hardest fight of her life, in-game and out of the game. As Ares turned to intercept the water, Shuhua pranced forward, attacking him from behind with her axe- which the god was able to block with his own, applying so much force that she flew backwards, crashing into the wall of the dungeon, Miyeon hurrying to heal her as she moaned, trying to stand up.

Soojin grit her teeth, watching Shuhua get beat up by the god- Miyeon was right, he  _ was _ the God of Assholes. Opening one of the flasks on her belt, Soojin coated one of her arrows in poison. She wasn’t sure if it would work- but it was worth a try.

Drawing her bowstring, Soojin shot the poisoned arrow straight at Ares as he flew towards Shuhua, striking him square in the eye. Ares howled in pain as he looked up with his remaining eye, pulling the arrow from where it landed. The eye she shot at became a nasty shade of purple, an effect of the poison, no doubt. She locked eyes with the god- or one eye, as a matter of fact- and that's when she knew, she fucked up.

“You,” Ares roared, red magic circles appearing behind him, arrowheads beginning to poke out of them.  _ Fuck. This was not going to be good. _ In a flash, a flurry of arrows soared through the air, as Soojin leapt from her spot in an act of desperation to avoid them, crying out in pain as one of them pierced into her leg, her rolling to the side as soon as she landed, nursing her wound.

Shuhua was seething now. How dare this… NPC hurt Soojin?  _ Her _ Soojin? Her axe glowed red as Yuqi’s sword did in the previous level, and she was ready to strike, when-

“Let me handle this,” a cool hand on her shoulder and a bright flash of light as an unexplainable euphoria washed over her body. Crumpling to the floor, the last thing Shuhua saw in the light was Miyeon, her face surrounded in a halo of light as the same choir they heard earlier started to serenade her.

“Aphrodite.”

“I’ll be taking that, Shushu,” Miyeon looked down at her friend, who had already passed out from looking at her aura.

“Miyeon, you’re-” Soojin struggled to keep her eyes open as she fought the goddess’ overwhelming presence.  _ She’s stronger than I expected, _ Miyeon thought, waving an arm in Soojin’s direction, causing her to fall asleep as well.

Picking up a sword from the treasure that littered the floor, Miyeon- no,  _ Aphrodite _ smirked defiantly at Ares, who growled at her like an animal. He was afraid, Miyeon knew, afraid of her power because there was nothing men feared more than a strong, powerful woman.

“Shall we dance, my former lover?” Miyeon whispered almost seductively, as she moved gracefully into a fighting stance.

“You  _ bitch _ ,” Ares spat, a mouthful of blood landing on the treasure. So the poisoned arrow that Soojin shot at him earlier was working after all. Smart girl.

“That’s not very nice,” Miyeon frowned, as the two gods leapt forward, clashing their blades together. Besides, when they broke up, Aphrodite was happier than ever. It was inevitable that he never got over her- she was the Goddess of Love after all. It comes with its perks.

Ares fought with a ferocity that was characteristic of him- not surprising for a man, Miyeon noted as she sidestepped his ever so predictable attacks. They were stuck in a tango of sorts, Ares advancing as Miyeon dodged, looking for the perfect opening. He still hadn’t revealed his godly form yet- was he really looking down on her that badly? But then again, she hadn’t either- only letting a bit of her aura seep through, in case she accidentally incinerated the three humans in the vicinity.

“I loved you!” Ares bellowed, slashing wildly at her with his once-axe-now-turned-sword.

“Please,” Miyeon scoffed, “Everyone loves me. Get in line.” Letting more of her godly presence through, she easily batted the sword out of his hands, going in for a swift counterattack, slashing him straight across the chest, a mix of blood and golden  _ ichor _ flowing from the wound. Ares looked like he was about to cry.

“You think you’re able to replace me?” Ares growled, his form bulging as he transformed.  _ That’s more like it. _ “With a witch girl? That’s what you want?” He cast a smouldering stare at Minnie, who lay to the side of the dungeon.

“She’s better than you,” Miyeon retorted, growing increasingly defensive of the other girl, “She’s sweet, pretty, and she actually listens, unlike  _ someone _ I know!” They clashed blades again, a deep red aura swirling around Ares’ as he prepared his next attack.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Miyeon murmured softly as her own blade glowed green, softly illuminating her face as she brought it before her.

Ares’ weapon crackled with red electricity that shot in all directions, narrowly missing the sleeping Shuhua.  _ Close call,  _ Miyeon thought as she readied herself for the impact. Ares vanished, but she could anticipate where he would strike next. Turning around, Miyeon met his blade with her own, the lights of their powers struggling against each other glowing brighter than any candle in the world.

They were evenly matched- Ares wasn’t willing to back down and neither was Miyeon. Removing one of her hands from the hilt of her sword, she pressed her palm to the centre of Ares’ chest plate, firing a blast of magic so strong that it went right through him, shaking the entire dungeon as the other god flew straight into the wall of the dungeon, forming an indentation in the ancient stone.

It was over in a flash. The straightforward, impulsive Ares would have never anticipated that attack, something that only a cunning woman such as Aphrodite could carry out. Sighing, she reverted back to her human form, sitting down on the floor cross-legged and waiting for the end of the level.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. this got REALLY long. hmu on twitter @orbitlands


	5. Unmasked

Yuqi’s eyes fluttered open, her perception of the world still bleary as she struggled to sit up. Her body screamed as she moved it, her head throbbing while she forced herself to wake up. Where… she could’ve sworn she was just in a dungeon before, but she was in a room so dazzling white that it blinded her.

“Hey, hey,” A hand on her shoulder and a voice she knew all too well, “don’t force yourself. I’m here.”

“Soyeon,” she rasped out, her throat dry, “how long was I out for?”

“A few days,” the god sighed, pushing her slightly to lay her back down. It was then that Yuqi noticed that she was hooked up to an IV, a catheter taped to her left arm and three electrodes stuck to her chest, as the monitor beeped softly according to the beating of her heart.

Staring straight at the ceiling, Yuqi couldn’t help but think about what could’ve happened without her. “And the others? They’re safe?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. They were hurt in the battle, but Miyeon is taking care of them for me, along with some other nurse NPCs. Unlike you, their injuries were part of the game…”

“What do you mean?” Yuqi was perplexed, trying to get up once again, but Soyeon stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder softly.

“Remember this?” She pulled out the pawn piece that Yuqi had picked up in Level 2 which flickered in and out of existence, “Somehow, the data for this particular piece got corrupted. I fixed it, though, so you should be fine. I’m really sorry-”

“Don’t apologise,” Yuqi shook her head, “You couldn’t have expected it.” Reaching out a hand to Soyeon, Yuqi touched the back of her hand and she smiled. “I’m fine now, and that’s all that matters. You did a great job with the world.”

“Yuqi…”  _ Was she… tearing up? _ “I’m really glad to hear that,” Soyeon’s voice was nasally, and she sniffed, “I worked day and night for this, I was so scared that I messed up with you, I-”

Yuqi shushed her, holding the god’s hand in her own. “I’m okay. See? I’m alive, and talking to you. That’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

Soyeon exhaled loudly, resting her forehead against Yuqi’s chest- the god had never looked so vulnerable in all the times that she saw her. “Thank you,” her lips moved against Yuqi, only separated from her skin by the thin robe she had on, “I don’t know what I’d do if I hadn’t picked you.”

“No shit,” Yuqi laughed, the sound shaking her entire body as Soyeon turned her head to look at her, still laying on her chest, “Just what would you do without me?” Soyeon gave her a small smile in response, moving over to give her a kiss on the forehead, when-

“Hey, how’s she doing?” It was Miyeon, barging into the room. Soyeon pulled away sharply, whipping around to look at her.

“I’m doing fine, thank you very much,” Yuqi replied in Soyeon’s stead, slightly annoyed at the sudden intrusion.

“I’m glad to see you guys are… friendly,” Miyeon smirked at them, causing Soyeon to blush. “Everyone else is waiting downstairs, should I call them up?”

“Sure, thank you, Miyeon.” Soyeon nodded, as Miyeon exited the room to find her friends.

“She sure seems different,” Yuqi remarked as soon as Miyeon was out of earshot, “what did I miss?”

“Oh, she’s supposed to be Aphrodite,” Soyeon shrugged nonchalantly.

“Are you kidding?” Yuqi’s eyes widened, “I missed  _ that _ ? That’s not fair,” she pouted, prompting a chuckle from Soyeon.

“I could always show you the footage of the last battle.” Swiping down on another one of her blue windows, Soyeon brought up a video, meaning to start playing it.

“I think I’ll wait for Shuhua to tell me the story,” Yuqi smiled, “I know she’s going to want to.”

“Okay,” Soyeon pinched her cheek lightly, out of pure reflex. Yuqi looked up at her, wide-eyed. It wasn’t her fault that the girl was cute. “Sorry,” she stammered, apologising again, “I won’t do that again-”

“Again, what’s with the apologising? It’s fine, you just caught me a bit off guard.” Yuqi clasped their hands together again, sighing contentedly.

“Yuqi!” Shuhua yelled as she ran into the room, Soyeon narrowly dodging her as she slammed into Yuqi’s bed full force, rattling the equipment. “Oh my god, I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too, Shushu,” Yuqi patted the youngest’s head, wincing in pain as Soyeon rushed to adjust her catheter, “Did I miss anything while I was out?”

“Yes!” Shuhua stood up like an overexcited child, “So like, you know there was the dragon and that Ares guy right? Minnie was amazing, she went in like a whole anime character and lopped the dragon’s head off! Apparently her bloodline power is like, super overpowered tentacles? But she faints every time she uses it-”

“Hey,” Minnie slapped her on the arm, cutting her off. Shuhua grinned apologetically, before continuing, “And Ares, he was so annoying I swear, but he was also freakishly strong! I fought him for a bit, then he smashed me into a wall, I nearly blacked out, then Soojin shot him in the eye with a poison arrow, and it worked! He pulled out-” Earning a few giggles from the other girls, she realised her mistake, “I mean, he pulled the  _ arrow _ out,” rolling her eyes at her friends, she corrected herself before continuing, “Then there was this really bright flash of light? I was about to attack him again when Myeonnie, she just put me to sleep?”

“That sounds interesting, Shu,” Yuqi grinned, “Soyeon, you wanna bring up that epic fight between Ares and Aphrodite?”

“Hey, Soyeon,” Miyeon huffed, “I thought  _ I’d _ get to tell her.”

“Sorry, it just slipped,” Soyeon stuck her tongue out at Miyeon, who sulked a little.

_ “Please. Everyone loves me, get in line.” _ Miyeon said on screen, and they watched the battle that they missed in awe. Seeing the girl blast the war god into the wall was oddly satisfying for Yuqi, as the girls whooped and cheered for the goddess.

“That was so badass,” Yuqi gawked at Miyeon, who smiled bashfully.

“I really hate to break it to you,” Soyeon sighed, “but I have to let you know that that was the last level… for now.”

“Really?” Soojin blinked twice at Soyeon, “So, are you going to send us… back?”

“Well, if you want-”

“No.” Shuhua, Soojin and Yuqi said in unison, Shuhua shaking her head wildly.

“Don’t you need some help around here? From your lovely beta testers?” Yuqi gave Soyeon her best puppy dog eyes, and the god felt her heart crack at the sight.

“Um… well…” she stammered, looking away from Yuqi, and instead at Soojin, who quirked her eyebrow at them. “I could ask… I have a board interview soon, anyway. That’s when they’ll decide if they want Neverland to continue development or not.” Right, sometimes it was easy to forget that she was only a god in-training.

“Jeon Soyeon, welcome back to the Heavens,” one of the guards greeted her as she walked through the golden gates, “the Panel awaits.”

“Thank you,” Soyeon bowed her head. Honestly, it was a hassle to keep up with formalities, but if it was what she had to do to get her work recognised, so be it.

The Heavens was all that it was described to be in literature, with dreamy clouds everywhere, a choir singing wherever you went, and ridiculous architecture that seemed to defy the laws of physics- but that was a creation of a god anyway, so who’s to say that another couldn’t change it up? Soyeon was led down a hallway with white walls, reflecting so much light off each other that the whole scene was rather blinding. Portraits of the Great Gods- those who had managed to sustain their worlds for long- lined the walls, and it was like they were judging her every move. 

One particular portrait stood out to her: Gaia, the goddess of Earth and its universe. Soyeon’s mentor, the one who truly encouraged her dreams as she strived to improve. The one who allowed her to borrow some of her humans- though Soyeon didn’t really like the way she described them, in order to test out her world.

“Jeon Soyeon is here.” The angel guiding her disappeared in a flash after announcing her presence.

“Welcome back,” the councilman sneered as she stood in front of them. No doubt, she was met by hostility again.

“I am pleased to announce that Neverland has completed its beta phase,” Soyeon puffed her chest out, standing as tall as she could despite being the shortest in the room.

“Good, good.” The councilman intertwined his fingers, staring at her intensely, “Now, what do we think of this world? Is it worthy of… our  _ participation _ ?”

“What?” Soyeon asked, shocked by his words, “You didn’t say anything about this. I thought we agreed on-”

“Silence!” The councilman bellowed, slamming his gavel down with a loud bang, as a million things were running through Soyeon’s mind at once. What did they want? They were talking about interfering with the project-  _ her  _ project, what she spent her entire life on. In her mere few centuries of existing as a god, she’d managed to create her own world, climbing steadily up the ranks just to make her Neverland come to life.

Soyeon didn’t say another word. She couldn’t stand for this- it was  _ her _ work,  _ her _ entire soul poured into one singular world, and now they wanted to steal it from her? Looking down at her feet, she tried to calm herself down by taking a few deep breaths. The pixels that always trailed behind her flickered from blue to red momentarily, a telltale sign of her emotions- and she was furious, all right.

“Remember who made you, Jeon Soyeon,” one of the other gods glared at her as she clenched her fists, fingernails digging into her palms, the pain reminding her of who she was.

It wasn’t so long ago that she stood in front of this hall of gods, being judged in the same way as she was now. They had laughed- when she said she wanted to become a god. They still laughed- when she told them that she had started a world. And they laughed, as she finished her world, as she revealed her results, as she showed that she  _ could _ be successful despite coming from where she did.

_ “A human, wanting to become a god,” _ they had made fun of her behind her back. She was like them, but they never saw her as such. Gaia’s creation, now her apprentice, who wanted to make a name for herself. Funny, wasn’t it? Scanning the panel, she locked eyes with the goddess that made her.

_ Of course. _

Her heart panged as the feeling of betrayal hit her, centuries of memories flooding back into her senses. She had always thought of Gaia like her mother- so why was this happening now?

“You see me as a human, still. You think I am inept, just because I wasn’t born as a god,” what was once the characteristic crimson blood of a human inside her body now ran gold, a sign that she had completed the journey to godhood- but right now, all the emotions she was feeling were more human than ever before. “What does that make you? You talk about being benevolent, about being all-loving. The humans sing your praises, and you repay them with  _ nothing _ ! You… you don’t deserve to call yourself gods. You’re no better than the ‘filthy humans’ you always talk about,” she spat, watching as the room’s atmosphere became increasingly hostile.

Oh, this was going to be a hell of a pain in the ass to get out of.

“Take her away!” The chairman yelled, his face glinting a faint shade of gold from the ichor rushing to the surface of his skin. Soyeon ducked quickly when the two angels standing guard by the door flew towards her, darting away as the guards crashed straight into the stand she was on.  _ Ouch _ , she winced as she watched the angels struggle to get up, but it wasn’t her main concern. Flinging the now-vacated doors open, she dashed straight into the hallways, the blinding white light shining into the room.

Squinting against the light, she tried to find her bearings. Which way did she come from? She could barely remember. Turning right, she ran as fast as she could, past the portraits of the gods- the gods that had failed her. In an instant, the walls of the white hallway twisted, throwing her to the side as the portraits clattered against their original positions.

Rolling to a side, she narrowly dodged a portrait that was about to fall on top of her. Kronos, the inventor of time. His golden eyes bore right through her soul, contrasting her brown ones as she stared at the picture as if in a trance. The way the hallway shifted- the elder gods must have been trying to keep her from leaving.

She was going to die here if she didn’t act fast.

Hoisting herself up, she ran towards what looked like the end of the hallway… only to be met by another wall. Looking behind her, she saw the troupe of angels closing in, golden spears at the ready. They really did want to get rid of her, huh.

Stretching her arms wide, she produced two blades protruding from her wrists. Crossing her arms together, she managed to block a frontal attack that would’ve taken her out in an instant. The angels were powerful enough to kill gods, though they were mere creations. Her feet skidded across the floor as she was pushed back, until she managed to create another blade that hovered in midair, flying straight towards the angel and skewering its head like a kebab.

Angel blood splattered all over her as the guardian dropped to the ground, the iridescent liquid dripping from her hair and onto her shoulders. Killing one of their own only riled the angels up even more, as they changed from their humanoid forms to a more deadly, horrifying one, gnashing their teeth together as metallic sounds filled the room. She  _ definitely _ wasn’t going to make it out alive if she faced them head-on.

Bringing up her coding pad, she quickly typed a few lines in, hoping that she could override whatever was happening. Being a god meant that she was equally as powerful as the rest, in training or not. Swiping her hand upwards, she hoped that a wall would erect between her and the angels, but it didn’t work.

“Fuck,” she cursed, typing in another few lines of code. Was she not powerful enough? Fighting against the power of at least a hundred elder gods was no small feat, prodigy or not. She soon realised that, rather than build, she had to break.

The floor underneath her feet crumbled and fell with a  _ crash _ , as she dropped down, landing with one knee against the floor. The level under the one she was on was like a whole other world- instead of being stark white, the room was pitch black, with only her coding pad illuminating her face.

“Fire,” she murmured, waving her hands as a halo of fire surrounded her body, giving light to her surroundings. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made of a marble so dark that it absorbed all light that came into contact with it. Looking up at the hole she made, she noticed the angels peering down at her but shied away from entering . Good news was, the angels didn’t like the dark.

The bad news was, there was  _ always _ something else guarding each floor.

“Cerberus,” she gasped as she suddenly heard growling from behind her. If it was here, that meant…

“Well, isn’t it the mortal god,” a deep, dark voice chuckled. It was Hades, the god of the underworld. “What brings  _ you _ to the Depths?”

The Depths were right underneath the Heavens, and it was where the gods of death and the underworld resided. Thanatos, Hades… all of the sort. Though, these gods didn’t hate mortals as much as the ones above- or so she hoped.

“Running away from the Heavens?” Another voice, that of a little girl. Thanatos. One of the greatest gods of death, co-creator of Earth and Hell, which Gaia and Hades also took part in.

Soyeon nodded slowly, wishing that they wouldn’t attack her. Trying to seem as calm as possible so she wouldn’t scare Cerberus, she answered, “They tried to steal my world.”

Silence. To her surprise, Thanatos laughed, her childlike giggles echoing across the Depths. “It’s not the first time someone has told us that,” she grinned, drawing a bunch of knives from behind her skirt, “So, what do you want us to do? Kill them?”

“What?” Soyeon asked, drawing back. She always knew that the Heavens and the Depths had a rivalry going on, but she didn’t know it was this serious.

“If you want to take back your world, you have to assert your dominance,” Thanatos brandished her weapons, smiling so wide her teeth gleamed in the little light Soyeon conjured. “Take back Neverland.  _ Reclaim your territory _ .”

“How do I do that?”

“Well,” Thanatos held out her palm, which glowed an eerie red. Hesitantly, Soyeon stretched out her hand to hers. Clasping their hands together, Soyeon saw it all, gasping at the revelation. “Do you know what you have to do?” Thanatos asked her, eyes glowing red in the dark as her image faded to black, like she was never there in the first place.

“... Yes.”

“Good answer.” Another hole appeared in the wall, still glowing, but not as brightly as the Heavens did. Peering into the opening, Soyeon saw it. Neverland, with a storm brewing above it. The rest of her friends sat together at a picnic table until they started to notice the sky darkening.

“What are you waiting for? Go!”

“Where’s Soyeon? Is this another level?” Soojin asked, growing increasingly worried as the sky darkened. A crack of lightning and there she was, body covered in soot, golden ichor running from the gash on her cheek.

“We have to leave. Now.” Dusting herself off, she ran towards the rest, but something was wrong. A different woman stood with them, and Soyeon froze. How did she get here so fast?

“Did you forget I was a god?” The woman- Gaia- smirked at her, holding Yuqi by her neck as the girl struggled, clawing at the fingers wrapped around her windpipe, gagging as she couldn’t breathe.

“Yuqi!” Soyeon rushed towards her friend but was pushed back. Opening one eye at the elder god, she was shocked to find out that she was being held back by the raise of a finger, cursing her powerlessness as she watched her friends try to fight the field, but to no avail. Laughing maniacally, Gaia let Yuqi go, the small girl crumpling to the ground as a portal opened in the sky, Gaia flying towards it. Soyeon rushed towards Yuqi, who was slowly regaining consciousness, when-

“Oh no, you don’t.” Chains wrapped themselves around Yuqi’s body, as she started glitching again, the very fabric of her existence ripping away brutally. She screamed in agony, stretching out a disappearing arm to Soyeon-

“No!” She cried, trying to jump to reach the other girl who was being pulled away from the ground.

“Soyeon,” Yuqi sobbed, tears streaming down her face as her body disappeared from her legs up to her torso, “Soyeon, I-”

_ “I’m sorry.” _

Just as their hands were about to touch, with a flash, Yuqi disappeared, along with the chains that restrained her. The sky cleared, and Soyeon fell to her knees as she stared blankly at the horizon. They had taken everything away from her.


End file.
